New York's Ratification

Ratification of the Constitution by the State of New York, July 26, 1788.
New York was the eleventh state to do so. The assent of Virginia and of New
York was seen as essential to the success of the Constitution, and though they
were tenth and eleventh to ratify, it is generally agreed that until they both
ratified, succes was in doubt. New York's ratification message is the longest
by far, and includes a declaration of rights and many suggested changes to the
Constitution. The following text is taken from the Library of Congress's copy
of Elliot's Debates.

We, the delegates of the people of the state of New York, duly elected and
met in Convention, having maturely considered the Constitution for the United
States of America, agreed to on the 17th day of September, in the year 1787, by
the Convention then assembled at Philadelphia, in the commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, (a copy whereof precedes these presents,) and having also
seriously and deliberately considered the present situation of the United
States, — Do declare and make known, —

That all power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the
people, and that government is instituted by them for their common interest,
protection, and security.

That the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are
essential rights, which every government ought to respect and preserve.

That the powers of government may be reassumed by the people whensoever it
shall become necessary to their happiness; that every power, jurisdiction, and
right, which is not by the said Constitution clearly delegated to the Congress
of the United States, or the departments of the government thereof, remains to
the people of the several states, or to their respective state governments, to
whom they may have granted the same; and that those clauses in the said
Constitution, which declare that Congress shall not have or exercise certain
powers, do not imply that Congress is entitled to any powers not given by the
said Constitution; but such clauses are to be construed either as exceptions to
certain specified powers, or as inserted merely for greater caution.

That the people have an equal, natural, and unalienable right freely and
peaceably to exercise their religion, according to the dictates of conscience;
and that no religious sect or society ought to be favored or established by law
in preference to others.

That the people have a right to keep and bear arms; that a well-regulated
militia, including the body of the people capable of bearing arms, is the
proper, natural, and safe defence of a free state.

That the militia should not be subject to martial law, except in time of
war, rebellion, or insurrection.

That standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and ought
not to be kept up, except in cases of necessity; and that at all times the
military should be under strict subordination to the civil power.

That, in time of peace, no soldier ought to be quartered in any house
without the consent of the owner, and in time of war only by the civil
magistrate, in such manner as the laws may direct.

That no person ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold,
or be exiled, or deprived of his privileges, franchises, life, liberty, or
property, but by due process of law.

That no person ought to be put twice in jeopardy of life or limb, for one
and the same offence; nor, unless in case of impeachment, be punished more than
once for the same offence.

That every person restrained of his liberty is entitled to an inquiry into
the lawfulness of such restraint, and to a removal thereof if unlawful; and
that such inquiry or removal ought not to be denied or delayed, except when, on
account of public danger, the Congress shall suspend the privilege of the writ
of habeas corpus.

That (except in the government of the land and naval forces, and of the
militia when in actual service, and in cases of impeachment) a presentment or
indictment by a grand jury ought to be observed as a necessary preliminary to
the trial of all crimes cognizable by the judiciary of the United States; and
such trial should be speedy, public, and by an impartial jury of the county
where the crime was committed; and that no person can be found guilty without
the unanimous consent of such jury. But in cases of crimes not committed within
any county of any of the United States, and in cases of crimes committed within
any county in which a general insurrection may prevail, or which may be in the
possession of a foreign enemy, the inquiry and trial may be in such county as
the Congress shall by law direct; which county, in the two cases last
mentioned, should be as near as conveniently may be to that county in which the
crime may have been committed; — and that, in all criminal prosecutions,
the accused ought to be informed of the cause and nature of his accusation, to
be confronted with his accusers and the witnesses against him, to have the
means of producing his witnesses, and the assistance of counsel for his
defence; and should not be compelled to give evidence against himself.

That the trial by jury, in the extent that it obtains by the common law of
England, is one of the greatest securities to the rights of a free people, and
ought to remain inviolate.

That every freeman has a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches
and seizures of his person, his papers, or his property; and therefore, that
all warrants to search suspected places, or seize any freeman, his papers, or
property, without information, upon oath or affirmation, of sufficient cause,
are grievous and oppressive; and that all general warrants (or such in which
the place or person suspected are not particularly designated) are dangerous,
and ought not to be granted.

That the people have a right peaceably to assemble together to consult for
their common good, or to instruct their representatives, and that every person
has a right to petition or apply to the legislature for redress of
grievances.

That the freedom of the press ought not to be violated or restrained.

That there should be, once in four years, an election of the President and
Vice-President, so that no officer, who may be appointed by the Congress to act
as President, in case of the removal, death, resignation, or inability, of the
President and Vice-President, can in any case continue to act beyond the
termination of the period for which the last President and Vice-President were
elected.

That nothing contained in the said Constitution is to be construed to
prevent the legislature of any state from passing laws at its discretion, from
time to time, to divide such state into convenient districts, and to apportion
its representatives to and amongst such districts.

That the prohibition contained in the said Constitution, against ex post
facto laws, extends only to laws concerning crimes.

That all appeals in causes determinable according to the course of the
common law, ought to be by writ of error, and not otherwise.

That the judicial power of the United States, in cases in which a state may
be a party, does not extend to criminal prosecutions, or to authorize any suit
by any person against a state.

That the judicial power of the United States, as to controversies between
citizens of the same state, claiming lands under grants from different states,
is not to be construed to extend to any other controversies between them,
except those which relate to such lands, so claimed, under grants of different
states.

That the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States, or of any
other court to be instituted by the Congress, is not in any case to be
increased, enlarged, or extended, by any faction, collusion, or mere
suggestion; and that no treaty is to be construed so to operate as to alter the
Constitution of any state.

Under these impressions, and declaring that the rights aforesaid cannot be
abridged or violated, and that the explanations aforesaid are consistent with
the said Constitution, and in confidence that the amendments which shall have
been proposed to the said Constitution will receive an early and mature
consideration, — We, the said delegates, in the name and in the behalf of
the people of the state of New York, do, by these presents, assent to and
ratify the said Constitution. In full confidence, nevertheless, that, until a
convention shall be called and convened for proposing amendments to the said
Constitution, the militia of this state will not be continued in service out of
this state for a longer term than six weeks, without the consent of the
legislature thereof; that the Congress will not make or alter any regulation in
this state, respecting the times, places, and manner, of holding elections for
senators or representatives, unless the legislature of this state shall neglect
or refuse to make laws or regulations for the purpose, or from any circumstance
be incapable of making the same; and that, in those cases, such power will only
be exercised until the legislature of this state shall make provision in the
premises; that no excise will be imposed on any article of the growth,
production, or manufacture of the United States, or any of them, within this
state, ardent spirits excepted; and the Congress will not lay direct taxes
within this state, but when the moneys arising from the impost and excise shall
be insufficient for the public exigencies, nor then, until Congress shall first
have made a requisition upon this state to assess, levy, and pay, the amount of
such requisition, made agreeably to the census fixed in the said Constitution,
in such way and manner as the legislature of this state shall judge best; but
that in such case, if the state shall neglect or refuse to pay its proportion,
pursuant to such requisition, then the Congress may assess and levy this
state's proportion, together with interest, at the rate of six per centum per
annum, from the time at which the same was required to be paid.

Done in Convention, at Poughkeepsie, in the county of Duchess, in the state
of New York, the 26th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1788.

By order of the Convention.GEO. CLINTON, President.

Attested. John M'Kesson, A. B. Banker, Secretaries.

And the Convention do, in the name and behalf of the people of the state of
New York, enjoin it upon their representatives in Congress to exert all their
influence, and use all reasonable means, to obtain a ratification of the
following amendments to the said Constitution, in the manner prescribed
therein; and in all laws to be passed by the Congress, in the mean time, to
conform to the spirit of the said amendments, as far as the Constitution will
admit.

That there shall be one representatives for every thirty thousand
inhabitants, according to the enumeration or census mentioned in the
Constitution, until the whole number of representatives amounts to two hundred,
after which that number shall be continued or increased, but not diminished, as
the Congress shall direct, and according to such ratio as the Congress shall
fix, in conformity to the rule prescribed for the apportionment of
representatives and direct taxes.

That the Congress do not impose any excise on any article (ardent spirits
excepted) of the growth, production, or manufacture of the United States, or
any of them.

That Congress do not lay direct taxes but when the moneys arising from the
impost and excise shall be insufficient for the public exigencies, nor then,
until Congress shall first have made a requisition upon the states to assess,
levy, and pay, their respective proportions of such requisition, agreeably to
the census fixed in the said Constitution, in such way and manner as the
legislatures of the respective states shall judge best; and in such case, if
any state shall neglect or refuse to pay its proportion, pursuant to such
requisition, then Congress may assess and levy such state's proportion,
together with interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, from the time
of payment prescribed in such requisition.

That the Congress shall not make or alter any regulation, in any state,
respecting the times, places, and manner, of holding elections for senators and
representatives, unless the legislature of such state shall neglect or refuse
to make laws or regulations for the purpose, or from any circumstance be
incapable of making the same, and then only until the legislature of such state
shall make provision in the premises; provided, that Congress may prescribe the
time for the election of representatives.

That no persons, except natural-born citizens, or such as were citizens on
or before the 4th day of July, 1776, or such as held commissions under the
United States during the war, and have at any time since the 4th day of July,
1776, become citizens of one or other of the United States, and who shall be
freeholders, shall be eligible to the places of President, Vice-President, or
members of either house of the Congress of the United States.

That the Congress do not grant monopolies, or erect any company with
exclusive advantages of commerce.

That no standing army or regular troops shall be raised, or kept up, in time
of peace, without the consent of two thirds of the senators and representatives
present in each house.

That no money be borrowed on the credit of the United States without the
assent of two thirds of the senators and representatives present in each
house.

That the Congress shall not declare war without the concurrence of two
thirds of the senators and representatives present in each house.

That the privilege of the habeas corpus shall not, by any law, be suspended
for a longer term than six months, or until twenty days after the meeting of
the Congress next following the passing the act for such suspension.

That the right of Congress to exercise exclusive legislation over such
district, not exceeding ten miles square, as may, by cession of a particular
state, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the
United States, shall not be so exercised as to exempt the inhabitants of such
district from paying the like taxes, imposts, duties, and excises, as shall be
imposed on the other inhabitants of the state in which such district may be;
and that no person shall be privileged within the said district from arrest for
crimes committed, or debts contracted, out of the said district.

That the right of exclusive legislation, with respect to such places as may
be purchased for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and
other needful buildings, shall not authorize the Congress to make any law to
prevent the laws of the states, respectively, in which they may be, from
extending to such places in all civil and criminal matters, except as to such
persons as shall be in the service of the United States; nor to them with
respect to crimes committed without such places.

That the compensation for the senators and representatives be ascertained by
standing laws; and that no alteration of the existing rate of compensation
shall operate for the benefit of the representatives until after a subsequent
election shall have been had.

That the Journals of the Congress shall be published at least once a year,
with the exception of such parts, relating to treaties or military operations,
as, in the judgment of either house, shall require secrecy; and that both
houses of Congress shall always keep their doors open during their sessions,
unless the business may, in their opinion, require secrecy. That the yeas and
nays shall be entered on the Journals whenever two members in either house may
require it.

That no capitation tax shall ever be laid by Congress.

That no person be eligible as a senator for more than six years in any term
of twelve years; and that the legislatures of the respective states may recall
their senators, or either of them, and elect others in their stead, to serve
the remainder of the time for which the senators so recalled were
appointed.

That no senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any office under the authority of the United
States.

That the authority given to the executives of the states to fill up the
vacancies of senators be abolished, and that such vacancies be filled by the
respective legislatures.

That the power of Congress to pass uniform laws concerning bankruptcy shall
only extend to merchants and other traders; and the states, respectively, may
pass laws for the relief of other insolvent debtors.

That no person shall be eligible to the office of President of the United
States a third time.

That the executive shall not grant pardons for treason, unless with the
consent of the Congress; but may, at his discretion, grant reprieves to persons
convicted of treason, until their cases can be laid before the Congress.

That the President, or person exercising his powers for the time being,
shall not command an army in the field in person, without the previous desire
of the Congress.

That all letters patent, commissions, pardons, writs, and processes of the
United States, shall run in the name of the people of the United States, and be
tested in the name of the President of the United States, or the person
exercising his powers for the time being, or the first judge of the court out
of which the same, shall issue, as the case may be.

That the Congress shall not constitute, ordain, or establish, any tribunals
of inferior courts, with any other than appellate jurisdiction, except such as
may be necessary for the trial of cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction,
and for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas; and in
all other cases to which the judicial power of the United States extends, and
in which the Supreme Court of the United States has not original jurisdiction,
the causes shall be heard, tried, and determined, in some one of the state
courts, with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, or
other proper tribunal, to be established for that purpose by the Congress, with
such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the Congress shall make.

That the court for the trial of impeachments shall consist of the Senate,
the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the first or senior
judge, for the time being, of the highest court of general and ordinary common-
law jurisdiction in each state; that the Congress shall, by standing laws,
designate the courts in the respective states answering this description, and,
in states having no courts exactly answering this description, shall designate
some other court, preferring such, if any there be, whose judge or judges may
hold their places during good behavior; provided, that no more than one judge,
other than judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, shall come from
one state.

That the Congress be authorized to pass laws for compensating the judges for
such services, and for compelling their attendance; and that a majority, at
least, of the said judges shall be requisite to constitute the said court. That
no person impeached shall sit as a member thereof; that each member shall,
previous to the entering upon any trial, take an oath or affirmation honestly
and impartially to hear and determine the cause; and that a majority of the
members present shall be necessary to a conviction.

That persons aggrieved by any judgment, sentence, or decree, of the Supreme
Court of the United States, in any cause in which that court has original
jurisdiction, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the Congress
shall make concerning the same, shall, upon application, have a commission, to
be issued by the President of the United States to such men learned in the law
as he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate
appoint, not less than seven, authorizing such commissioners, or any seven or
more of them, to correct the errors in such judgment, or to review such
sentence and decree, as the case may be, and to do justice to the parties in
the premises.

That no judge of the Supreme Court of the United States shall hold any other
office under the United States, or any of them.

That the judicial power of the United States shall extend to no
controversies respecting land, unless it relate to claims of territory or
jurisdiction between states, and individuals under the grants of different
states.

That the militia of any state shall not be compelled to serve without the
limits of the state, for a longer term than six weeks, without the consent of
the legislature thereof.

That the words without the consent of the Congress, in the seventh clause of
the ninth section of the first article of the Constitution, be expunged.

That the senators and representatives, and all executive and judicial
officers of the United States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation not to
infringe or violate the constitutions or rights of the respective states.

That the legislatures of the respective states may make provision, by law,
that the electors of the election districts, to be by them appointed, shall
choose a citizen of the United States, who shall have been an inhabitant of
such district for the term of one year immediately preceding the time of his
election, for one the representatives of such state.

Done in Convention, at Poughkeepsie, in the county of Duchess, in the state
of New York, the 26th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1788.